Chinese Tea History

Tea is the drink of choice around the world and is consumed more than any other beverage. Tea has managed to weave its way through the social and cultural history of nations around the world.

Emperor Shen Nung, who was a scholar and herbalist, drank only boiled water for hygienic reasons. One day back in 2737 B.C. he was sitting under a wild tea tree and a breeze caused some leaves to fall and float down into simmering water that was being prepared. After drinking the now infused boiled water he found it to be refreshing and that is when tea was born. Whether the legend is true or not, tea was a popular drink in China many years ago and still remains popular today.

An actual written reference to a leaf appeared back in the third century B.C. After a Chinese surgeon recommended it for increasing concentration and alertness. In ancient records the Chinese character used to describe tea also described sow thistles. The only way to tell the difference was verbally after emperor of the Han Dynasty ruled that the character should be pronounce 'cha' when referring to tea. Tracing tea's history became easier after tea acquired its own written character.

Tea was prepared as a medicine or tonic with fresh green leaves gathered from wild tea trees up until third century B.C. Cultivating tea bushes by farmers became necessary to meet the demand and guarantee a regular crop of tea. Over time a system of drying and processing was developed.

During the fourth and fifth centuries new plantations were established along the Yangtze River Valley and tea was rapidly growing in popularity. Tea was presented as gifts to emperors and the product began to show up in taverns and noodle houses. Elegant tea wares were manufactured by potters, silver traders and goldsmiths which became a status symbol for the wealthy.

During the Tang Dynasty tea was taken for medicinal purposes and pleasure. An elaborate ceremony had developed around the preparation and service of tea. Cultivation and processing was tightly controlled by rigid rules as to who picked the leaves, when and how to gather the crop and the handling of freshly picked leaves. Young female pickers had to be careful of hygiene and diet which meant no strong spices, garlic or onion as this could contaminate the tea leaves.

During this period the first tea book was written by Lu Yu. Cha Chang which is known as Classic of Tea describes the plants origins, characteristics, varieties, processing, tools, brewing, water qualities, medicinal qualities and the traditions of tea drinking.

During the Tang Dynasty young leaves would be picked, steamed crushed and mixed into a paste with plum juice which would act as a binding agent. The paste would then be poured into molds and baked until dry. To brew a cup of tea you would roast the cake mold in the fire until soft and then crush it into a powder to be boiled in water. The most common flavours were sweet onions, ginger, orange peel, cloves and peppermint which would be added to the water before boiling and the tea added after.

Under the Song Dynasty the tea cakes were ground to a fine powder and whisked into boiling water to produce a frothy liquid. The same tea cake could be used as many as seven times to repeat the process. Subtle flavors were preferred such as; jasmine, lotus and chrysanthemum flowers.

All tea in China was green tea until the Ming Dynasty. Compressed tea cakes from previous empires were used for trade in many regions of the world. Ming tea was loose leaf, steamed and dried which lost its aroma and flavor quickly. Chinese growers developed black tea and flower scented tea which would retain their qualities on long journeys to Europe. All types of tea, green tea and black tea start as green leaves from the tea bush. Ming producers discovered that they could preserve the leaves by first fermenting them in the air until reaching a copper red color at which point you would bake the leaves to stop the natural fermentation process. The first imports to Europe were loose leaf green tea but changed as Ming tea growers adapted their methods of production to suit the tea market.